Take Five
by TesubCalle
Summary: What do two doomed officers talk about in those final five minutes leading up to their demise? Story focuses on those poor ambushed cops, Wisnicki and Chandler.


Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me. They belong to their creators, the NBC Network, and all others that can legally lay claim to them. As usual, I am simply borrowing them for my own nefarious purposes.

Synopsis: What _do _partners talk about in those final five minutes before their tragic deaths?

(Due to lack of any kind of background info on these two poor souls that we only see ever-so-briefly, I've taken it upon myself to create their world for you, the reader. If I've somehow gotten their first names wrong or any other pieces of pertinent info, well, I've just gotten them wrong, and this would then have to be considered an AU.)

**Take Five**

**By TesubCalle**

**_WISNICKI AND CHANDLER_**

Officer Wisnicki sat behind the wheel of the police cruiser, eyes alert for any illegal activity on the streets that he and his partner Officer Chandler drove through; ears open for any bulletins provided by Dispatch.

It had been an uneventful morning. That suited Wisnicki just fine, as 'uneventful' often translated into less paperwork at the end of the shift. Cops that positively delighted in spending time at a desk writing up reports hour after hour were usually the most unpopular ones.

As he slowed to stop for a group of elderly pedestrians,Greg Wisnicki, or 'Wiz' as his fellow officers called him, allowed his mind to turn homeward. A small smile tugged at the corners of his face. His three children were getting into that adorable stage where their daddy was their hero, unconditionally. The fact that he had a badge and a gun cemented that heroic image in their heads. Often his older children, seven-year-old twins Daniel and Dennis, would boast about his schoolyard conversations. Grinning broadly,they would recount how they told this kid or that kid: "Yeah? Well,our dad's a _cop_, and if you do something bad, he's gonna arrest you!"

Wisnicki's five-year-old, the quiet but thoughtful Stephanie had recently confided in him that she wanted to be a police officer when she grew up, too, just like daddy and Officer Chandler. She'd looked at him seriously as she told him this secret ambition, and Wiz had nodded solemnly. He knew that any time she used that look, whatever she was talking about was of the utmost importance to her.

His wife, Anna, indulged her kids' childhood fantasies with the occasional prudent parental restraint. She never allowed them to 'shoot' each other in games of Cops and Robbers, even after their protests that they were simply 'pretending'. For this, Wiz was accepting of and thankful for. He knew it wasn't easy for her being the wife of a cop. They made a point of kissing each other before he left for a shift, rooted in the fearful knowledge that it could be their last. When he was partnered with Chandler, Wiz feared Anna would be upset about him having a female partner. But she had been accepting of the young officer from the get-go. Rumours of infidelities between partners of the opposite sex would always abound, but Wiz was confident they would buck the trend.

Chandler didn't speak much about her social life outside the force, but Wiz knew she had steady boyfriend that wasn't a cop. Some grad-school student of some sort – Anna probably knew more about the guy than he did, since she and Chandler were on such friendly terms. Yes, he and Anna would make it, flying in the face of statistically high divorce rates among cops, and the ceaseless locker-room gossip.

Officer Lisa Chandler watched patiently as the senior citizens ambled across the pedestrian crossing zone. She found her thoughts drifting back to summers spent with her maternal grandparents in New York's Westchester County. Their patrician features snapped into focus, and for a moment Lisa Chandler was lost in a wave of nostalgia. Trips to Bear Mountain and fishing in the lakes of the Catskill Mountains filled her recollections. These memories were immediately and followed by pangs of sadness and longing. Her grandmother, Marie, suffered a fatal heart attack during Lisa's senior year of high school; her grandfather, Wilt, followed a mere three months after.

At Wilt's funeral, Lisa, overcome with grief over her beloved grandparents, had tearfully told her mother Diane that she didn't want to "get old". It seemed that once you reached that stage, death and illness would be inevitable. Diane had understood her daughter's pain and anguish, but countered her mournful words by saying: "There's nothing wrong with getting old, Lisa, just as long as you get there."

Officer Chandler frowned unconsciously. Her mother had never wanted her to join the force. Recruited out of high school based on her excellent athletic and academic abilities, Lisa Chandler found police work to be interesting and challenging. But when she had voiced her decision to join, Diane brought back up the 'getting old' comment as an indication of her displeasure and dismay. _Nothing wrong with getting old -just as long as you get there, Lisa_. The words now resounded in her mind.

"You watch too much TV and too many movies, mom," Lisa had challenged back then. "Cops do _not_ get routinely slaughtered like cattle at some meat-processing plant."

Diane had winced at the mental imagery.

"I'll be fine. I'll show you the statistics, even. You're more likely to die in an accident in your own home or driving in a car than being in this profession, so we all might as well stop driving and be homeless bums!"

Diane hadn't been impressed by that logic, Lisa noticed.

At least Michael, her father, had been supportive. Lisa could be glad of that, as well as the support of Brian, her boyfriend of three years. They'd met on a blind date, and he'd been amused to find out that she was a police officer. She'd performed a take-down move on him just to convince him. Having him in such a compromising position on the floor madeBrian realise he'd found someone who wouldn't expect him to be 'macho' all the time. They'd joke with friends and acquaintances that he really and truly had 'fallen' for her.

"Your kids are lucky they have each other," Lisa commented as they watched a harried mother with three kids in tow hustle down the sidewalk. One child smiled and waved at them, and they returned the gesture.

"Why?" Wiz asked, turning back.

"Being an only is lonely. Look at those three kids that just walked by. Think of all the mischief they can get into together. I had to make-believe. Having real brothers and sisters is a much better experience."

"I guess so," Wiz agreed slowly. "At least it is when they're not at each other's throats."

"What about your kids? They seem to like each other a lot," Lisa observed.

"Yeah, they do. I gotta tell ya, I love being a father. I didn't think I'd know what to do, or how to do it, but things totally change when there's this new life in the home."

"Your kids adore you, Wiz," Lisa said. "I see it every time I come over."

The radio suddenly came to life as the dispatcher's voice squawked over the police band, informing all officers in the vicinity about a robbery in progress, tripped off by a silent alarm.

Officer Chandler grabbed the radio after glancing in Wiz' direction and seeing him nod in the affirmative. They were within five minutes of the location of the robbery, and were expecting to be first on the scene. Chandler relayed this information to Dispatch, and Wiz put the car into high gear and switched on the lights and siren.

Normally silent on a ride in to something they were responding to, Wiz continued talking. Lisa realised that was because they'd struck upon something he was passionate about.

"Steph says she wants to be on the force when she grows up," Wiz said proudly.

"Adorable," Lisa replied. "What does Anna say to that?"

"I don't think she's told Anna. But I really just chalk it up to hero-worship. In no time flat she'll get interested in something else. This week it's cops. Next week it'll be fighting fires, and the week after it'll be the dentist. That's how it goes with little kids."

"I see…" Lisa said, almost wistfully.

"So what about you and your guy friend?" Wiz asked coyly.

"We've… talked about it…" she started cautiously.

"Whew, Chandler, you're getting married? Why is it the partner is the last to know?" Wiz whined in mock-insult.

"Oh, shut up. We've only _talked_ about it. And all the things that go with married life, including kids. We're both set on three, I think. And I get dibs on Steph for baby-sitting when she's old enough."

"You're not even married and already you're holding my poor kid hostage for baby-sitting your snot-nosed brats?!" Wiz laughed. "Oh, what the hell. What are partners for?"

"Gee, thanks, Wiz. Tell you what – you die an honourable death in the line, and I'll name one of those 'snot-nosed brats' after you!"

They both chuckled at the gallows humour. Those kinds of jokes, though somewhat morbid, was a way to safely address a subject that was never far from the minds of the officers. The guffaws eventually wound down, and the partners composed themselves.

"But in that case, you'd better hope you go down right along with me, Chandler," Wiz said, continuing the train of thought. "You know what they always ask when a cop goes down: '_Where was the partner_?' Nobody will want to be stuck with you if I go down alone – they'll always question if you've got their back."

"You _know_ I've got _your_ back, Wiz," Chandler said quietly, her tone a little defensive.

He shot her a look from the corner of his eyes. "That wasn't meant as a reproach, Chandler. I know you've got my back."

"All right, then," she said, looking up as they neared the destination of the robbery in progress.

Wisnicki shut off the siren and pulled the cruiser into the parking lot. Chandler picked up the radio once again, confirming their arrival and position as indeed being first on the scene.

"Let's go!" Wiz opened his door hurriedly, his hand sliding to his weapon.

Chandler followed her partner cautiously into the building.

Natural light streamed into the lobby through the glass-paneled walls. The place seemed deserted. The pair made their way slowly towards a closed door to further check for occupants, Chandler paced slightly behind Wiz and to his right.

The door burst open abruptly, and a young Asian woman wearing overalls and carrying a sack emerged.

"Don't move!" Wisnicki yelled.

"Hands up!" Chandler shouted.

Both officers trained their weapons on her.

Startled, the woman stopped in her tracks, raised her hands and dropped her loot. Wiz and Chandler inched closer to her, watching the surprise drain away from their quarry's face. Her eyes darted to her right.

_We've got you now,_ Wisnicki thought triumphantly, as Chandler drew up alongside him.

A lone figure stalked behind them, unseen by the officers, brandishing a powerful firearm.

Chandler heard the shots that felled her partner, and in the split second before the bullets ripped through the back of her own all-too-inadequate bullet-resistant vest, before she could even turn, she knew she would be unable to respond in time to the surprise attack. Both officers fell to the ground nearly simultaneously. Their shooter made a second pass, firing several rounds again into the officers' inert bodies, ensuring that she had terminated this annoying interruption to her carefully-planned heist. The dead partners lay there, side by side, their weapons still in their hands when they were found by backup officers Ray Hechler and Tom Turcotte.

**_JOEL AND FEARLESS_**

"Man, I hate this," Fearless groused, standing in a grassy cemetery following the service for the fallen comrades.

"We all do, Bobby," Det. Joel Stevens sighed in agreement with his partner. "Wisnicki and Chandler were good officers. They didn't deserve to go down like that."

Joel had a good idea about how their fellow officers had been ambushed and more importantly, who was behind it. The hard part was finding a way to implement a plan that would bring the cop-killers to justice. But he had to, for his murdered friends, and for their families. John Donadoni might be rich and powerful, but when he and his associates crossed that sacred line, Joel vowed that he would hunt him and those involved until they were unable to freely laugh in the face of the law and actively work outside it.

Officers Ray Hechler and Tom Turcotte approached the Detectives and shared a few words about Wisnicki and Chandler; the tragedy and unfairness of it all. It was evident to all of them that aggressively securing a conviction for those responsible for the deadly ambush would not be a priority for the department, due to the rumoured involvement of Donadoni. There were far more damning charges it was hoped could be stuck to him, and a couple dead cops was chicken feed, it appeared. That sort of mentality really burned Joel. As it turned out, it didn't sit well with Fearless, or Hechler and Turcotte. That's what Joel was hoping to hear.

"Tom; Ray," he started, squinting through the bright sunlight as he looked at the pair, "I have a plan…and with Bobby, I'll need your help…"

**END**

(See Boomtown's season 2 premiere "The Love of Money" on NBC for further details if you're interested in knowing what happens.)


End file.
